


Almost Human

by Lije (KaiosReins)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: FUCK, Help, I dont think its as bad as it sounds, Ugh, Vampirestuck, but who am i kidding, dont judge me, i swear its not a self insert, im new dont crucify me, its not as bad as it sounds, just read it, my cover is blown, striders, this is what happens at 2am on caffeine, wtf are these tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 15:40:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13593204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiosReins/pseuds/Lije
Summary: The product of 2am and a lot of caffeine. The original idea wasn't based in Homestuck but instead standalone (I'll probably explain later), but I put it to Homestuck characters because why the fuck not?





	1. Chapter 1

The night was relaxingly, almost deceptively calm, and a cool breeze toyed with the thick brown strands of Alicia Anders' hair as she meandered along the footpath, plastic shopping bag full of late-night snacks dangling from one arm as she replied to a friend's text on her phone. It was just after midnight, and the inner suburban apartment blocks lining either side of the street were all dark, the occupants clearly diurnal beings who slept in the darkness and were active during daylight.

Alicia had never been one for daylight, and her body agreed on this topic. Her fair skin burned and blistered in more than an hour of sunlight, and her eyes were abnormally sensitive to not only light but also UV. It was a condition that over a decade of optometrist visits had been unable to fix, and she doubted the laser eye surgery her mother had been pushing for her to get done would do anything more than correct the slight short-sightedness in one eye. Regardless, she had decided a long time ago that laser eye surgery was not an option, thank you very much Final Destination.

Being out late at night had never worried Alicia before. She'd fended off more than one attacker before, and besides, the apartments might all be dark but a loud enough scream might startle someone from their bed enough to at least look out the window, maybe call the police. All she had to do was aim for the weak spot, take a swing, and then run. It wasn't her first rodeo.

Despite this, she had recently taken to carrying a knife about in her pocket. Just a simple flick knife, not even enough to cause severe damage. But in the event of an emergency, it might be enough to at least give an attacker some pause.

The reason for the knife was the recent string of abductions and murders that had been happening in the CBD. No rhyme or reason to the victims, according to her online research (Alicia had a lot of times and a lot of curiosity). The only link was that all of them were fit young people, often in their prime with a healthy workout ritual and excellent eating habits. They would often vanish around dusk, from literally anywhere in the city, and show up on the opposite side of the river, laid out to rest on a bus stop bench or in a park, like they had simply had too much to drink and passed out there.

The reason the city's population was in uproar - and the reason Alicia's mother had insisted she keep a knife on her for even short five-minute walks to the corner store - was the fact that all of the victims had been drained of all blood.

Their throats had been cut, their blood drained, and their bodies cleaned, and all of this in the space of six hours or less - since they were always, _always_ found just before dawn, and Queensland summer nights were short.

It didn't worry Alicia as much as it should have, really, and this was for two reasons:  
1\. The victims always disappeared around dusk; and  
2\. They only ever disappeared from the CBD

As a suburban gal, Alicia felt that she was safe to meander down to the corner store just after midnight, spend about twenty minutes chatting up the bored but cute clerk, and then wander back home at her leisure. After all, based on police reports, the murderers would be busy with their current victim around the time she was wandering about the streets, so she was safe.

Of course, this was also why she was wearing headphones, listening to music from some dude calling himself Plazmataz, while texting an American friend about some stupid comic they both liked. She didn't even blink twice at the streetlight that had decided not to turn on tonight, nor did she pay any mind to the footsteps fast approaching from behind.

The first thing that actually succeeded in drawing her attention away from her phone was a hand wrapping itself around her throat, pulling her back against a firm body. Her phone slipped from her fingers in shock, the earbuds being ripped out of her ears as another hand wrapped around her waist.

_"Scream. I dare you."_

Alicia gasped at the person holding her against them, body automatically going into panic mode as the male swiftly felt her pockets, pulling out her flick knife and chuckling ominously.

_"You think that'd help you? That's a needle compared to what I'll put in you,"_

Alicia closed her eyes, her mind screaming incoherently at her as she tried not to cry out. Oh fuck, what was this creep going to do? Aside from toss her knife aside, which he did. Black fingerless gloves covered his hands, the palm of the one pressed gently against her throat feeling like it had been worn smooth. His fingers dug into the side of her neck as his other hand grabbed her hip, pulling her back against him as he grinded himself against her.

_Don't scream yet, Ali. He can cut you off with one move. Wait til his hands are busy elsewhere._

Rape was a very real thing to Alicia, having been raised in what Americans would describe as a ghetto, yet incredibly she had never been a victim of actual violently forced rape. Faced now with that prospect - because, clearly, sex was on this guy's mind - she tried to recall all the information she had heard about it. It was a crime of violence, not sex. Most of them got their thrill from the fight. It would hurt but if you just went with it, you were more likely to survive.

"W-what do you want from me?" she asked, her voice a shaky whisper as he brought his face down beside her throat, next to her pulse.

"Depends what you're willing to give," he replied, his voice low and almost husky. His hand stayed on her hip bone, and she tried not to shudder as he inhaled, the tip of his nose touching her pulse. "There's something under this skin that I want, and you're going to let me have it. The only thing you get to decide is how much of a fight you'll put up."

Alicia opened her eyes as he tilted her head back, lips brushing against her skin, sharp teeth grazing her neck--

_Teeth_

She could feel them, right there, set in amongst the rest of his teeth like they were natural. Oh god, was he one of those psychopaths who actually thought-- No, these were too sharp. Surgery? No. Then why--

"You're not gonna fight?" he asked, almost teasing. His hot breath tickled across her throat, and she suppressed another shiver as he pressed himself against her back, "How boring,"

"What's the point?" Alicia asked, resorting to playing along, "You're just looking for an excuse to kill me, aren't you? So, just go ahead,"

She prayed he wouldn't call her bluff. She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, trying to keep her breathing steady and even as she felt his fingers massaging into her hips, almost gently.

"You're a clever little thing," he muttered softly, "You think you've got this figured out, then, huh? Then tell me - what am I?"

This was like a shitty scene from a shitty vampire romance flick, and if it weren't a potentially life-or-death situation, Alicia would have been cringing so hard her entire soul would have shrivelled up under the cliche. But this was his game, and if he wanted to play out some twisted fantasy, her best bet - for now - was to play along.

"Vampire, right?" she managed a soft, terrified laugh that sounded more like it bordered on hysterical than actual nervousness. "You want to... I don't know. Kill me? By drinking my blood? I mean, of all the ways to go I guess it isn't the wors--"

She cut herself off with a gasp as the hand around her throat tightened, not enough to cut off her breathing but certainly enough to give her a warning. She let out a soft whimper as he hummed, inhaling her... ugh, her scent (seriously, this dude was just cliche central, wasn't he?) before he let go of her pelvis. She sighed softly with relief until he moved again, spinning her around to face him, hand still on her throat as his other now pressed against the small of her back, once again forcing her against him.

Blonde hair stuffed under a dark grey cap, and a white shirt with the collar popped. She avoided looking at his eyes, some superstitious fear in her reminding her of the various legends where vampires could control someone by making direct eye contact. Her breathing was coming in short gasps as she tried to slow her racing heart, staring at a dark brown speck on his shirt and praying he just did whatever he wanted to do already.

"You want to die?" he asked softly, and oh god she could definitely see those teeth and if they were fakes or surgical then why did they have to look so damn _real_? She almost sobbed, still trying to look at anything but the eyes that were apparently giving off a soft orange luminescence that made his cheeks glow a little.

"No," she whispered.

"Then why are you telling me to kill you?"

Fuck. He had her there. Alicia inhaled shakily, feeling a tear in the corner of her eye. No. Hell no. No crying, not in front of this guy. Fuck.

"You're a vampire," she repeated, playing along with his little fantasy, "So, if any of the legends are true, you're stronger, faster, and you could kill me ten different ways before I hit the ground. There's no point in running, fighting. All I can do is hope you make it quick,"

For added bluff, she tilted her head back, as if offering him her throat, all the while silently praying that she would continue to throw him off guard.

An eternity seemed to stretch on as she closed her eyes, waiting for... well, she imagined that it would hurt if he did decide to go ahead with his charade, and she guessed he would at least drag her into the bushes if he had other intentions and the stupid vampire thing was just an attempt at messing with her head. So when the hands disappeared from her back and throat, she was surprised.

"You're interesting," he said softly, still standing close enough to her that she could realise his body wasn't radiating any body heat. Fuck. A dude with a figure like that should have been running at least a few degrees hotter than her, but the fingers he brushed against her cheek, tilting her head down so that she was no longer offering up her throat, were icy cold. Not clammy or covered in cold sweat, but... like there was no body heat at all. Like he had just stepped out of a freezer after being in there for far too long.

Those cold fingers crept under her chin, tilting her face up and forcing her to look at his eyes, unnaturally pale amber eyes that gave off a soft, unmistakeable glow. Alicia felt a shiver tear down her spine as he studied her coolly, his fangs retracting back to a normal length, and as she caught this movement out of the corner of her vision, her eyes widened.

_This wasn't some fucking game._

_This guy was an actual, live vampire._

Her breathing stuttered for a moment, and his lips curled upwards in a twisted, sadistic smirk, his eyes glowing more intensely. Nope, that definitely wasn't special effects. His eyes were actually _glowing_.

She froze in fear as he leaned down, kissing her pulse ever so lightly, before meeting her eyes again.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with you," he commented, still smirking, "But for now, you can go. Close your eyes, count to ten. If you open your eyes before ten, I'll kill you. Deal?"

_Was he actually letting her go?_

Alicia nodded mutely, swallowing as she closed her eyes, not trusting the man for a second but not daring to disobey.

_"In more than half the cases we've had reported, those who co-operate are often let go."_

The report's words came back to haunt her as she swallowed nervously. "One," she whispered, "Two, three, four, five, six..."

At seven, she could still sense his presence there

At eight, she heard him step back from her

At nine, he gave another soft, ominous chuckle

At ten, there was a soft whooshing noise, like a bird taking off. Alicia hesitated a moment, before opening her eyes to see that she was alone on the footpath, the only evidence of her encounter being her dropped phone, discarded weapon, a racing heart, and the memory of pale amber eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is multi-chapter.

The midnight walks stopped.

It took Alicia several days before she felt safe leaving the house after dark, and if she did, it was always in the company of one of her housemates - usually the tough ex-alcoholic security guard who had insisted she call the event in to the cops. Leah, a heavyset woman in her late twenties with short blonde hair and a frame that would embarrass most male bodybuilder wannabes, had been getting a coffee when Alicia had returned home, and something about her look had told Leah that she had been targeted - not "attacked", never "attacked". Leah had some sort of stigma against using that word unless there were actual marks to show for it. Nevertheless, she had (illegally) driven Alicia to the nearest police station and reported the incident, before taking her to the nearest emergency room and insisting she get checked out.

Leah was like that tough friend that nobody wanted to fuck with, and for that, Alicia was grateful.

She returned to work after a few days, taking an Uber in the afternoon, starting her shift at four, and powering through her four hour shift, dreading the moment she would have to wait outside in the dark for someone to pick her up. Thankfully, Leah walked into the store five minutes before the end of Alicia's shift, bought a bottle of water, and hung around making small talk with Alicia's co-worker until Alicia was ready to leave.

It was at least a week before she was comfortable to wait outside for an Uber or housemate to pick her up. As she usually worked evenings at a small grocery store, she finished after dark most days, and after her recent experience, walking home alone was not an option.

But eventually, life settled back in place and the dropoff/pickup routine worked its way into Alicia's work ritual. The midnight walks remained firmly nonexistent so long as she was alone, but she stopped being afraid of her own shadow. The nightmares also hadn't stopped completely, but they had faded away to just those eyes, glaring at her in her sleep, no longer terrorising her in her waking moments. And because of that, she let her guard down.

One of her tasks was to empty the rubbish trolley into one of the dumpsters at the back of their building, a task that she usually did at the start of her shift, during daylight - since there were no cameras watching the back door or storage area, and it was advised to do it during these hours since the back door lighting was relatively poor. But on this particular Friday, it had been busy from the moment Alicia had started until just before sunset, and by the time she was actually able to get outside with the rubbish trolley, dusk had well and truly set in.

She unlocked and pushed the lid of the dumpster open, before grabbing the stacks of flattened boxes and tossing them into the dumpster. It was a menial task, and she allowed her mind to wander as she worked at it, clearing two trolleys before anything even remotely hinted at occurring.

As she turned back from the dumpster, she saw black jeans standing on the other side of the trolley, and looked up to see--

" _Ohmygod_!"

"That's not what people usually call me, but I'll take it,"

His voice was less predatory this time, more teasing, like he was toying with her. She pressed herself back against the dumpster, staring at him as he approached slowly, feeling her body starting to shake. She glanced to the side, towards the door. If she could move fast enough, she might be able to get inside, and would he follow her in there?

_How had he known where she worked?_

Her idea for escape was quickly cut off as soon as she saw another blonde, younger and thinner, but still a few inches taller than her, blocking off the path to the back door. Heart pounding in her ears, Alicia turned her gaze back to the other blonde, the one that had come after her that night almost two weeks ago.

"Long time, no see," he smirked, eyes flicking down to her name tag, "Alicia, huh? Cute name for a cute face,"

"Can we skip the crappy flirting and just get out of here already?" the other one sounded tired, and was wearing a pair of aviator shades to hide his eyes.

"Yeah, just--" Alicia's breath caught in her throat as she tried to form her next words while simultaneously overcoming her fear of a sudden and violent death, "Just fuck off or I'll scream,"

"Now, that's not very co-operative," the first one stated, lips curled into a sadistic smirk, "What happened to the girl who knew when she was beaten? I thought you wanted to die?"

"I thought you were gonna kill me then," Alicia snapped, inching towards the other male as the orange-eyed one stepped closer. "If you're gonna kill me, you had your chance. I'm not dying today,"

"No, you're not," he continued to smirk, tilting his head, "You're coming with us,"

Alicia glanced at Shades, then back at Orange Eyes, shaking her head. "Nuh-uh. I'm not gonna be your little sex slave,"

"Who said anything about sex?"

He was there in less than a blink, arms on either side of her, his body pressed up against hers, pinning her to to dumpster as he chuckled softly. Alicia turned, avoiding eye contact, and instead found herself looking at Shades, with a strange thought occurring to her as she noticed his body language.

_He was uncomfortable_

Summoning up all her courage, Alicia jerked her knee upwards, the fear kicking her adrenaline and self-preservation instinct into gear and slamming her knee into the man's jewels. He grunted, doubling up, and she made a dash for it, just barely getting past Shades, screaming for her coworker at the same time as he caught her around the waist and covered her mouth. The other man was groaning loudly in pain, and Shades spun her around as he straightened up, eyes flaring like a wildfire.

"Oh, I'm gonna _kill_ you!" he snarled through gritted teeth, grabbing Alicia's shoulder and making direct eye contact with her. She tried to look away, but realised it was too late when she saw his pupils change slightly, elongating so that he had cats eyes.

Everything around her went blurry as she lost herself in his orange gaze, the glow spreading out, surrounding her, lulling her into obedience. She felt what rebellious nature she had in her disappear, and realised that she was totally helpless in this moment, at the mercy of this man's whim.

The single word cut through the fog that had surrounded her mind, echoing in whispers all around, and though it felt like it had been several hours to her, it had truly only been a few seconds.

"Sleep,"

Alicia felt her consciousness slipping away, felt her body going weak as the darkness rose up from the edges of her vision, wrapping her in oblivion.

If Shades hadn't been holding her, she would have hit the deck harder than a sack of potatoes. In fact, his arms catching her as her knees gave out was the last sensation she experienced before obeying the vampire's command.


	3. The Beast Below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this a while ago. Let's see if people like it and if so, I'll keep updating it.

Dave had taken up what seemed to be permanent residence on the couch, sitting cross-legged and facing the unconscious girl as she slept off whatever compulsion Bro had used on her. Whatever it was, it must have been strong shit, because she had been sleeping deeply for several hours now, with no signs of stirring.

He felt bad for her. It was Bro's stupid power trip that had led to her being here. He liked to fuck with peoples' heads, treat them like they meant nothing, and liked to break them, have them begging for mercy before he finally offered it. As far as humans went, Bro was the type of person who should have been executed centuries ago.

As far as vampires went, he was lauded as a hero and revolutionary, and this gave him license to do whatever the fuck he wanted.

"How's she doing?"

Dave looked over at Dirk, who was leaning on the kitchen counter with a glass of water in one hand, raising a shoulder in uncertainty.

"Bro got her really good," he replied, "What else can I say?"

"Sounds like she won't be out too much longer?" Dirk remarked, before draining the water and pouring another one. Dave looked back at the girl, hearing the slight change in her heartbeat as well, the soft hitch in her breathing as she shifted from the depths of slumber to somewhere bordering dreams and reality.

"Where'd David go?" Dave asked, hoping to make small conversation. Dirk shrugged.

"I don't keep tabs on the dude. He's not a psychopath like yours. Probably out feeding or some shit."

"You're the genetic offspring of that psychopath,"

"Don't remeind me,"

Before becoming a vampire, Bro had had a small family, and they'd had children who'd had children and on it went, until sometime a few centuries after Bro's "death", Dirk had been born. It was a connection that Dirk hated being reminded of - as the only literal blood relative to another member of their coven, he had always sort of felt like keeping Bro in check was his responsibility - even though Bro had about six hundred years on Dirk.

"Bro's probably out feeding as well," Dave stated, glancing back at the girl, "Fuck, I was surprised he didn't ditch the plan and kill her then and there. He was fucking furious she fought back,"

Dirk snorted. "Yeah, I noticed he was nursing the jewels when y'all got back. She must have hit hard,"

"Dude, I felt that shit in the pit of my stomach. Like it sent ripples of pain emanating outward from the epicenter, like an earthquake of get fucked,"

"You can't tell me he didn't deserve it though. Was he being all rapey and shit?"

"Fuckin' yeah, creep to the max. He even made me uncomfortable."

It worked. She was awake, but a glance back at her told him that she had decided to feign sleep for a while longer. He couldn't help but smile as she slowed her breathing down, but there was nothing she could do about her racing heart, and the breathing was too irregular to be sleep breathing. He looked back at Dirk, arching an eyebrow behind his shades.

"She awake?" he asked.

"Let her sleep," Dave replied, "She's got a lot to process when she wakes up - let's not fuck her up even more by scaring her awake."

"Solid plan. So... whose is she?"

This was the uncomfortable bit Dave wished he didn't have to address. Not when she was awake and probably listening. "Bro wasn't specific."

"I bet he was,"

"He wasn't, okay? Just leave it at that,"

"I bet he was and you just don't want to admit it."

"Fine," Dave sighed in frustration, "He's convinced having a, well, _pet_ , is gonna help me get stronger,"

"Well, pros of having one," Dirk raised a hand, ticking each item off on his fingers, "Feeding whenever you want, constant companionship, someone to sort you out with the other impulses, plus she seems like a fighter so you'd have a sparring partner that isn't one of us,"

"I forget that it's been a few centuries since you had any humanity," Dave snapped, "She's a real person, Dirk. She feels, she eats, she likes her privacy, and above all of that, she was fucking terrified," he shook his head, "Anyone, _anyone_ else would have been a better pick. Surely there's still an entire army of girls who fawn over shitty vampire romance stories - one of them would have been better, surely?"

"Most of them don't take good enough care of themselves," Dirk reminded him, "And most of them are teenagers. Remember the last time we had a teenager in this house, Dave? Because I do. Haywire hormones and bloodsuckers don't mix."

Dave rolled his eyes, glancing back at the girl as she continued trying to fake sleeping. His expression softened for a moment as he looked at her, the rapid thudding of her heart like a soft drumbeat as adrenaline was pumped through her system. He knew that he would be expected to kill this one, especially if Bro had any say in it. Finding a way to spare her was so difficult it almost wouldn't be an option, especially not if Bro was involved - and he could bet every shiny coin and crisp note that Bro would be involved.

"You get too attached, Dave," Dirk said softly, "You get too attached, and then wind up agonising over what you have to do, what you _need_ to do. You're the only one out of us who can take him on. The whole consort thing? It's shitty, but if it gives you an advantage over that asshole, or even a chance of actually succeeding, I say take it with both hands."

"And what, we couldn't have explained that to her before kidnapping her?" Dave asked, turning to glare at Dirk.

Not for the first time that night, a shitty tune began to play as a small rectangular device began to vibrate against the wooden table. Dave glanced at it, catching the twitch of movement out of the corner of his eye as she also reacted. Of course she'd react.

" _Leah Hamilton calling_ ," stated a smooth, electronic female voice over the sound of the ringtone. Dave was tempted to answer the call, even leaning over and picking it up, looking at the picture of the woman on the screen, before the phone gave up and stopped ringing.

"Cops could be tracing it," Dirk stated, "Why haven't you turned it off yet?"

"The cops'll trace it to this address," Dave replied, "And then what do you think they'll do? "Sorry, ma'am, couldn't get a good enough fix but we've got people in the area looking" or some bullshit like that," he set the phone back on the wooden coffee table, sighing, "It sucks, because I almost wish they _would_ grow some balls and actually knock on the door."

"After what David did to them last time? No way, man," Dirk shook his head as he poured himself another glass of water. Fasting was an easy way to cut back on the amount of feeding they did, but it usually left them feeling an incredible, almost insatiable thirst, and each had developed a liking for a specific beverage. Dirk's was either orange soda, the most sugary of all beverages, or plain cold water when the thirst was particularly bad. Dave's preference was cold apple juice - their elder counterparts had grown up in a time when alcohol was the only thing to drink aside from bacteria-riddled water, and after a few centuries of alcohol abuse they had apparently developed a tolerance to it. Or maybe that was the cellular regeneration which was a side-effect of vampirism. Who knew.

Dave contented himself with watching the girl pretend to sleep, silently counting the beats of her heart and matching them up with the timing of her breath. He was only half-aware of Dirk leaving the room, possibly the apartment, focusing on the girl entirely. The name badge he had torn from her work shirt and dropped beside the dumpster had told them her name was Alicia. She had fair skin, brown hair that was almost red, and an oval face that settled naturally into what modern teenagers were calling "resting bitch face". She, however, wasn't a teenager - she looked to be in her early twenties, maybe around his biological age or perhaps closer to Dirk's, but no older than that.

She seemed to have realised Dirk had left, because he saw her crack one eye open slightly, closing it again once she spotted him. He felt slightly amused at her stubbornness at faking this for so long, and couldn't help smiling to himself. Well, time to shoot the elephant in the room (he was pretty sure that was how the metaphor went, at least).

"I know you're awake," he said softly, leaning closer to her, "You've been awake this whole time. It's just us, y'know. You don't have to pretend."

She kept her eyes firmly closed, but her heart and breathing both sped up, almost hyperventilating with panic before she fought to keep herself under control.

"I'm impressed at your level of self-control," he remarked, "You've done some sort of Lamaze classes, or yoga or something. Probably yoga; you don't look like you've ever had kids,"

He couldn't help quell that little thrill that pulsed through him at the hitch in her breathing, that increase in her heart rate. Yet at the same time, he hated himself for enjoying it so much. Bro was the sadist of the group, not him. Still, being what he was came with a specific predatorial sense, and sensing the panic in a weaker being kicked that predator within him into gear, as much as he hated to admit it.

He looked away at the sound of Dirk calling out a goodbye, responding before he heard the front door shut. He turned back to see her reaching for her phone, laying on the coffee table, and moved fast. One hand sent the phone spinning away, the other grabbing her hand. If he had thought she was hysterical when they had grabbed her, he had clearly forgotten the definition of hysterical. She began to scream as his movement sent him lunging across her, his weight pinning her to the sofa, and she began to hit at him with her free hand, the one held in his grip twisting uselessly as she tried to free herself.

" _Get off me! Let me GO! HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE--!_ "

He grabbed her other wrist and pinned them together with one hand, his other hand covering her mouth as he made an attempt to _not_ be laying all over her like Paris Hilton on a sun lounge. She kept screaming, but the sound was muffled through his hand as she twisted and writhed, trying to throw him off her, struggling in every way she could.

"Hey! _Hey_! Cut it out!" he shouted at her, "I'm not trying to hurt you, okay? Don't make me--!"

That seemed to work. She stopped fighting, and he realised the dampness covering her cheeks and the edge of his hand were tears - she was crying. Immediately, Dave felt bad, and sighed heavily.

"I don't want to hurt you," he told her slowly, "And I don't want you to be scared, okay? So, if I let go, are you gonna keep hitting me?"

She hesitated, before shaking her head slowly.

"What about the screaming. You gonna keep screaming at me if I take my hand away?"

Again, a small shake of the head. Dave sighed with relief, letting go of her and sitting up. He ran a hand through his hair, offering a hand to help her sit up as well.

Tentatively, she took it, and he pulled her into a sitting position.

"Let me go," she stated. Dave scoffed, shaking his head.

"It's too late. Even if I did, he'd be able to find you anywhere,"

She seemed to re-evaluate the situation, looking around as she hugged herself. "Okay then. Give me my phone,"

"No can do,"

She pursed her lips, and he heard her heart speeding up again. He turned to her, putting a hand on her chest - such an intimate gesture that meant nothing to him, yet enough that she flinched away.

"Hey, you need to relax," he told her, "I don't want to hurt you, okay? I want you to calm down. Take deep breaths, that sort of bullcrap?"

"You don't want to hurt me yet I'm here," she scoffed, voice at least an octave higher than she clearly wanted it to be. She paused, clearing her throat. "If you don't want to hurt me, then why did you kidnap me?"

"That wasn't my idea," Dave replied, looking her in the eye. The only barrier was his shades, and he pushed them up on top of his head, so that she could see his crimson eyes. "I know you were just listening in on our conversation, just before. You know I didn't plan for anyone to get taken, yet here we are. I'm Dave,"

She almost flinched at the hand he offered to her, still hugging herself, and he almost laughed at her timidness. Like a little sparrow. "Hey - it's just a hand. No teeth. See?"

He flipped his hand over to show her the palm and the back, smiling encouragingly at her. She stared at it as though she were unfamiliar with the appendage, then at him.

"Alicia," she said softly, reluctantly shaking his hand. Dave realised they had reached an awkward moment now - he wasn't quite sure what to say next, but thankfully, she seemed to have something on her mind.

"So... you're one of them? A... a v-vampire?"

She was still dubious about believing the evidence, even though it had laid itself prostrate for her own personal examination. Dave could almost see her brain at work, trying to comprehend the fact that monsters were indeed real, and chuckled softly, looking away as he let his fangs extend out and then looking back at her. He knew this would have an effect, but hadn't expected her reaction to be so violent. She screamed, scrambling backwards on the couch, her face an expression of pure terror as she slipped, falling to the ground in her haste to put distance between them. Dave quickly retracted the fangs and slid off the sofa, kneeling beside her and offering a hand, grimacing apologetically.

"Sorry," he told her, "I didn't mean to scare you; didn't think you'd freak out so much,"

"What did you _think_ was gonna happen, huh?" she snapped, voice hysterical as he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes again. "You _kidnapped_ me from work, and now I'm in some seedy-arse crack den with a psychopath pretending to be _nice_ , saying he doesn't want to hurt me like he doesn't have a choice whether he gets to or not!"

She took a shuddering breath and Dave sighed heavily, leaning down and scooping her up easily, dropping her back onto the lounge.

"Look, if I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be hurt," he told her, "I could kill you five different ways before your body even hit the ground, and that's just with my bare hands, let's not even think about the fact that I'm faster than a speeding bullet. If Bro hadn't wanted to kidnap you, you'd probably be dead instead of here, talking to me. As for taking you from work, it was the only opportunity that presented itself. You keep yourself so caged up during our usual hours that we couldn't really come after you any other time. And I'm not a psychopath."

She was sobbing, curled into a ball, and Dave felt like his speech had fallen on deaf ears. He rolled his eyes and fell into a seat on the sofa, before reaching over awkwardly and patting her on the shoulder. With each touch, she flinched violently, and he stopped after the third one, sighing as he realised that she wasn't going to respond favourably. Silently, he cursed Bro for being such a mind-playing sadist over the whole thing, and instead watched her as she sobbed, not sure what else he could do. She was terrified out of her wits, and as much as he wanted to help, she had already painted him in with her nightmares. This would have to be another delicate operation, and not for the first time Dave cursed Bro to all the gods that had ever existed.

All he could do was wait.


End file.
